Office of the Attorney General
State of Texas

You ask what, if any, effect Rule 14c of the Texas Rules of
Civil Procedure has on the provisions of chapter 117 of the Local
Government Code, regarding counties' retention of part of the
interest earned on trust funds deposited in court. We believe
that the rule does not affect the statutory provisions or our
interpretation of them in Attorney General Opinion JM-1162
(1990).

Rule 14c of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, enacted in
1981, reads in part as follows:

Wherever these rules provide for the filing of a surety bond,
the party may in lieu of filing the bond deposit cash or other
negotiable obligation . . . . Any interest thereon shall
constitute a part of the deposit. (Our emphasis.)

Tex.R.Civ.Proc. 14c.

When the Supreme Court adopted this rule, it made no comment
about the second sentence, which is the focus of your question,
and merely summarized the first sentence as follows:

This new rule authorizes various deposits in lieu of a surety
bond.

Rules of Court 600 S.W.2d XXXIV.

The second sentence of the rule, which you interpret as
mandating the disposition of the interest, merely recognizes that
interest may be earned on cash deposits and identifies that
interest as being part of the deposit. The rule does not direct
the disposition of the interest; thus, the rule does not conflict
with those Local Government Code provisions that assign a part of
that interest to the county as reimbursement for its accounting
and administrative expenses. Local Gov't Code ss 117.054,
117.123.

You ask for clarification of Attorney General Opinion JM-1162
(1990) in light of Rule 14c. It is true that JM-1162 did not
consider the rule in its general discussion of trust funds held
by clerks of courts. Now, however, when reviewing the opinion
with the language of the rule in mind, we find that the rule does
nothing to change the result of that opinion or to obscure the
meaning of the statutes interpreted therein. In fact, both the
rule and the statutes recognize that interest accrues to the
principal.